Can AI Replace Consultants? The New McKinsey Killer Apps
AI is reshaping strategy consulting. Explore the tools challenging firms like McKinsey and what this means for the future of business advice.
Is the Next McKinsey… a Model?
For decades, top-tier consulting firms like McKinsey, BCG, and Bain have advised the world's largest companies on everything from digital transformation to M&A. But now, a new kind of challenger is emerging—not a boutique firm or upstart rival, but AI itself.
With the rise of generative AI, language models, and vertical intelligence tools, business leaders are beginning to ask: Can AI replace consultants? Or at the very least, do what they do—faster, cheaper, and at scale?
From strategy generation to data synthesis and market analysis, AI is no longer just an assistant. It's becoming a strategist.
What AI Already Does—Surprisingly Well
The consulting workflow is largely information-driven. That’s fertile ground for AI. Today’s tools can already:
🔍 Analyze markets: Tools like AlphaSense and Quid analyze billions of data points—news, filings, patents, sentiment—to surface competitive insights in minutes.
📊 Automate research: AI agents crawl earnings calls, whitepapers, and analyst reports to summarize trends and benchmarks, something junior analysts once spent weeks on.
📈 Build models: Platforms like ChatGPT, Notion AI, and ExcelCopilot now help generate financial models, forecasts, and dashboards with just a few prompts.
🧠 Generate strategy decks: Products like Beautiful.AI and Tome let users auto-generate investor or strategy decks—complete with messaging, charts, and competitive positioning.
In short: AI doesn’t just do slide-making. It’s eating the first 20–60% of the consulting value chain.
The Rise of AI-Native “Consultants”
Beyond tools, a new category of AI-native consulting products is emerging—purpose-built to offer business strategy, not just support it:
- Tactic: A YC-backed “AI strategist” that generates marketing and growth plans based on company data.
- Lindy: A personal AI executive assistant that drafts memos, responses, and analyses.
- Delphi AI: A decision-support tool used by execs to simulate outcomes across market scenarios.
- Abridge & Klarity: Vertical AI tools replacing compliance, legal review, and ops audits—classic consulting functions.
These are not assistants. They’re consulting apps in disguise—always on, always learning, and radically scalable.
Why Consultants Still Matter—for Now
Despite the hype, AI isn’t ready to fully replace human consultants. Here's why:
🤝 Trust & context: Boardrooms still want advice from someone with skin in the game, not just a pattern-matching model.
🔍 Judgment: Strategy often depends on context, politics, and nuance—areas where AI can hallucinate or misfire.
🔐 Data access: AI tools often lack proprietary, non-public insights that top consulting firms thrive on.
But that doesn’t mean consultants are safe. What Excel did to accountants, AI could do to analysts.
The Future: Man + Machine Strategy
Consulting firms are already adapting.
McKinsey’s QuantumBlack, BCG X, and Bain’s partnerships with OpenAI signal that even the incumbents see what’s coming. The future of consulting may look like this:
- Fewer slides, more simulations
- Fewer analysts, more prompts
- Higher margins, lower headcounts
- Strategy work that’s faster, more iterative, and AI-augmented
The real winners? Clients—who may soon get $1 million insights for the price of a monthly SaaS fee.
Conclusion: The Age of the AI Consultant Is Here
AI won’t replace every consultant—but it’s already replacing what consultants do.
The smartest firms (and professionals) aren’t resisting AI. They’re integrating it, augmenting their skills, and rethinking the value they bring beyond the data.
Because when the machine can do the math, the future of consulting will be defined by something else: human insight, ethical judgment, and bold creativity.
